Today's Boston Globe (reg. required) has a very in-depth story about the "pornification" of pop culture. It covers the rock/porn connection, which VH1 has been covering for awhile, the reality that Paris Hilton's sex tape has only helped her career, rampant porn online, and how poses and images that could be lifted right from Penthouse are now everywhere. The article revolves around Pamela Paul's book "Pornified," which "examines the role pornography plays in contemporary life." "Pornification" has become rampant in youth culture a la teens posing in lingerie in their Myspace profiles. I never made the connection (as the article does) about the growing popularity of Brazillian bikini waxes (duh).

While you might think this story would provide fodder for anti-porn crusaders, I actually agreed with this quote towards the end from another author named Cynthia Eller:

"…the 'conservative right, in its eagerness to keep sexuality forbidden, is really just stoking the fire of an appetite for porn, for naughtiness, for the whole lust for sexual transgression.' She maintains that if conservative forces were to 'give up their repressive game where sex is concerned,' the mainstream manifestations of porn will lose their appeal to a lot of people."

I do think this is a big ethical issue for everyone in teen media and marketing should be discussing. Take a second look at your latest campaign. If your creative looks similar to images that usually come under a brown paper wrapper, especially if your audience is teens and tweens, you may be helping to sustain our "pornified" culture.

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